The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 411 Peerless Prodigy (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The next morning, Zhao Ti summoned the generals for a meeting in the hall, with Murong Longcheng and two others listening in.

After the meeting, the troops were mustered and marched out of the camp to the southern city of Yanjing to observe the Zhuxian Sword Formation on the opposite side.

This observation period was longer than usual, and they didn't return until noon.

Then Zhao Ti and the other three returned to the central command tent, sat around the table, and Wang Yuyan stood behind him, recounting the matter of breaking the formation.

Xiaoyaozi stroked his light beard: "Naturally, the higher the realm, the greater the chance of breaking the formation. Although the Twelve-Story Tower is perfect, it would be best to reach the Dao Palace realm."

Lin Lingsu said with a wry smile, "Second Senior Brother, I also want to enter the Dao Palace, but the distance is too far and the gap is too great. I'm afraid I can't."

Xiaoyaozi nodded: "You are missing two of your three souls, so it is indeed difficult for you to enter the Dao Palace in a short time. If any one of the four of us enters the Dao Palace, our chances of winning will increase exponentially. I am currently on the verge of a bottleneck. I will try to break through in the next few days."

The three agreed and chatted for a while before setting out wine and dishes, drinking until the sun set in the west.

Afterwards, only Zhao Ti and Wang Yuyan remained in the tent. Wang Yuyan had also drunk some wine, and her cheeks were slightly flushed as she looked at Zhao Ti.

Zhao Ti said, "Why don't you go and rest?"

Wang Yuyan said, "I want to see Your Highness."

Zhao Ti laughed and said, "What's there to see? We've been looking for so long."

Wang Yuyan stepped forward and gently nestled into his arms, closing her eyes slightly. "Your Highness, I have missed you terribly during my time in Zhuozhou, and I wish I could come to the front lines as soon as possible. I didn't have time to speak to you yesterday, but today, today I finally have the chance to tell you..."

Zhao Ti felt a delicate fragrance surrounding him, and as the other woman's hair gently brushed against his neck and face, his heart couldn't help but flutter.

He tightened his arms around her, then lowered his head and went to find the sweet fragrance. Wang Yuyan was immediately interrupted and involuntarily made a "mmm" sound.

After a long while, Wang Yuyan's body became extremely weak, as if she was about to collapse. Zhao Ti held her in his arms and felt her body burning hot. He couldn't help but move his hands slowly.

Wang Yuyan trembled, letting out soft moans, as if she were about to melt away.

It's unclear how much time passed, but as darkness fell completely outside, the two gradually separated.

"Your Highness, I..." Wang Yuyan looked up at Zhao Ti, her face flushed with a beautiful glow.

Zhao Ti took a deep breath, suppressing the restless blood in his body: "Yan'er, let's go back to camp and practice."

Wang Yuyan nodded: "I also want to strive for advancement, so that I can help Your Highness..."

Zhao Ti nodded, then lowered his head for a few breaths before the two reluctantly parted ways. Wang Yuyan went out and returned to her own tent.

After calming himself down for a moment, Zhao Ti turned around and went back to his tent, where he went to bed and began practicing his martial arts.

He is currently at the ninth level of the Twelve-Story Tower, the Gate of Life and Death. If he advances further, he will enter the tenth level, the Gouchen Prison.

Although this realm is not as dangerous as the ninth level, the name itself does not suggest a pleasant place. The process of breaking through the bottleneck is just as perilous.

However, he didn't have any bottlenecks to speak of. As long as he accumulated enough experience, he could achieve success in one fell swoop, and the process of breaking through the barrier was no different from normal cultivation.

At this moment, he concentrated all his magical power and circulated it through a great cycle before setting off towards the tenth level of the Gouchen Prison.

Although there were no bottlenecks to speak of, Zhao Ti remained cautious, slowing down to the minimum speed, not greedily trying to save time or rushing forward.

More than an hour passed, and the barrier between Gouchen Prison and the ninth level of the Gate of Life and Death was broken through. The magical power was like walking on a broad road, penetrating through the ninth and tenth levels.

At this moment, his magical power doubled again, and he felt that many spells that he couldn't use before due to insufficient power could now be used.

He even had a vague feeling that although Xiaoyaozi was at the Great Perfection of the Twelfth Level, he might still be able to fight him.

As for facing Murong Longcheng, the odds of victory are estimated to be higher.

Zhao Ti pondered incessantly, comparing and verifying the scene of the two's competition the previous night. Just as he was calculating repeatedly, he suddenly felt a ripple in his body.

Is another tribulation about to begin? He narrowed his eyes. The tribulation of the tenth level of the Twelve-Story Tower, the Gouchen Prison, is called the Heavenly Tribulation of the Flower-Shaped Questioning Heaven.

The Heavenly Tribulation in the shape of a flower represents the control of order.

He felt a momentary dizziness, and when he regained his senses, he was sitting in a room in a small courtyard in Xinghua Lane, with a simple wooden desk in front of him and a golden book in his hands.

The book was the Four Illuminations Divine Skill manual. When the first page was opened, it was filled with words that read: "Heaven and earth are bright and clear, the energy pervades all directions, the four illuminations stabilize the world, and martial arts move the universe."

The winds and clouds gather and disperse, thunder shatters the sky, divine power is first revealed, and no one can withstand it.

With mountains and rivers as its foundation and the sun and moon as its rays, its radiance astonishes the world, its noble spirit boundless.

Heaven and earth unite in might, dragons and tigers soar together, divine skills unfold, and martial arts prowess shines forth.

"Hmm? Such a boastful tone," Zhao Ti was slightly taken aback.

Although I had considered that this Four Illuminations Divine Skill might have some extraordinary aspects, I did not expect it to boast so much on the very first page, with an astonishingly arrogant tone.

He hesitated slightly, and his opinion of the manual dropped by three points.

It's unlikely that Yang Jian possesses any unparalleled martial arts skills, given that he's merely a son-in-law of a wealthy family. Even if he were a son-in-law of a prominent family, given the current social climate, he wouldn't pass on any top-tier martial arts techniques to someone outside his family. It seems that's the case now.

Thinking of this, he frowned slightly, pondering whether he should learn this martial art or ask the crow for some techniques later, since the crow also possessed human martial arts.

But then I thought about it again. The crow had said that its martial arts weren't top-tier human skills either, so I might as well read this book first to understand what martial arts were all about. That way, if I ever really acquired a top-tier skill in the future, I could put it into practice directly.

Having already decided to learn martial arts, he felt no more hesitation or burden and continued to turn to the second page of the Four Illuminations Divine Skill.

After looking at it for a while, his expression turned strange. This cultivation technique seemed to be... not as simple as he had imagined.

If this is considered ordinary martial arts, then how difficult must those unparalleled divine skills be?
The second page of this book, "Four Illuminations Divine Skill," begins to explain the methods of cultivation. It is extremely profound and complicated, and every word and sentence must be carefully analyzed. If one has not read much and is not versed in literature, and can only recognize characters, then there is no way to practice it. One needs a teacher to guide one into the beginning.

Zhao Ti observed for a moment. This skill was a legendary internal energy cultivation technique. It had no specific moves; one had to directly cultivate internal energy and then gradually progress.

The internal energy generation of this technique is divided into four methods, each with different incantations and processes. The four types of internal energy do not repel each other, but rather attract and enhance each other, hence the name "Four Illuminations Divine Skill".

If one cultivates one of the internal forces, it signifies entering the path of cultivation.

Once you have mastered all four stages of internal energy, it means that you have initially achieved mastery of this skill.

The time required to initially master this skill varies from three months to thirty years, depending on the practitioner's talent and aptitude.

In other words, a peerless genius can develop four types of internal energy in three months, while as talent declines, it may take up to thirty years.

This initial achievement over thirty years does not mean a lack of talent; on the contrary, it still indicates considerable talent, though not as exceptional as that of a peerless genius. Hence, it takes thirty years to achieve initial success.

As for those with average aptitude and mediocre talent, let alone achieving initial success, they might not even be able to enter the gate even after a lifetime of practice, which shows that the threshold for this technique is extremely high.

The prodigy from the highest level actually needs another three months... Zhao Ti couldn't help but gasp. This didn't seem like an ordinary martial art at all. Could it be that he had guessed wrong, and that it was truly a peerless divine skill, just as Yang Jian had said?
Zhao Ti thought for a moment. He had thoroughly understood the four different methods of cultivating internal energy. After confirming them in his mind, he began to practice.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes slightly closed, his palms facing upwards, and began to breathe in and out his breath, circulating it through his meridians and drawing it into his dantian, as instructed in the manual.

Just fifteen minutes later, he suddenly opened his eyes, a strange expression on his face.

At this moment, it felt as if a fiery little mouse was running back and forth inside my dantian, warm and incredibly comfortable.

Has he mastered it? Zhao Ti's lips twitched. How could it be so fast?
He didn't quite believe it at first, but the reaction in his dantian was the same as the instructions for the exercise, clearly indicating that he had cultivated a section of internal energy.

Zhao Ti pondered for a moment, then began practicing the second stage. This time, it also took about fifteen minutes for a second little mouse to appear in his dantian, and he had cultivated the second stage of internal energy.

He then began practicing the third stage, which also took about fifteen minutes, during which the third little mouse gathered and emerged from his dantian.

Zhao Ti scratched his head, wondering what was going on. Could he really be one of those legendary geniuses who only appears once every few centuries?
He hurriedly began practicing the fourth stage of the technique, which took a little longer this time, twice as long as before, but even doubled, it only took him a quarter of an hour.

Could I really be a peerless genius? But even a peerless genius needs three months to master all four levels!

Zhao Ti felt four little hot mice running and playing around in his dantian, and couldn't help but wonder to himself, "Could this technique be just bragging?"

All that talk about months or decades is nonsense. It's actually a simple martial art, but it's been shrouded in mystery and wordplay, making it hard to understand and comprehend. Even if you master it, it won't be very powerful.
Thinking of this, he raised both palms and circulated them according to the instructions of the technique. In just a moment, four colors flashed in his palms: white, blue, red, and yellow.

Zhao Ti was startled, but then he calmed himself down. The change in color in his palm was a sign that the Four Illuminations Divine Skill was beginning to take shape.

But I mastered this technique in less than an hour. Does it really have any power or effect?
He pondered for a few moments, then raised his palm and slapped towards the bedside.

(End of this chapter)